Preview: Reading Women vs. West Ham United Women - prediction, team news, lineups

Two out-of-form sides meet at the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Sunday, when eighth-placed Reading Women welcome West Ham United Women to Berkshire, with the visitors sitting on the same amount of points in seventh spot.

The Hammers are looking for their first WSL win since the middle of March, while Reading have to look further back to find their last victory, which came eight games ago at the beginning of February.

Match preview

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The Royals have faced all of the current top five teams in the division in their last six games, during which time they have collected two points, as they fell to their ninth defeat of the campaign last time out.

Kelly Chambers's side fell to a 5-0 loss at Kingsmeadow at the beginning of this month, falling to goals from Chelsea's Jessie Fleming and a brace each for Bethany England and Samantha Kerr.

Reading struggled to get a foothold in that match, registering just two shots compared to Chelsea's 23, but they should be able to stamp more of an authority on this game given that the two sides have been similarly matched throughout the season.

Their home form has been significantly better than their away record this year, picking up double the amount of points on their own patch in one less game than on their travels, and defensively they are much stronger on home soil.

In the reverse fixture, Reading had to come from behind to secure a 2-2 draw in East London, with Emma Harries netting a 92nd-minute equaliser in an entertaining clash.

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The Hammers were bidding to reach the FA Cup final last time out, when they welcomed Manchester City to their home ground, but Olli Harder's side fell to a 4-1 defeat, losing to Gareth Taylor's side for the second time in two weeks.

Consecutive 2-0 defeats in the WSL has allowed Brighton & Hove Albion to leapfrog West Ham into sixth spot, and with two tough outings against Manchester United and Arsenal to come, the visitors will be keen to secure their seventh win of the campaign this weekend.

Their last three away games in all competitions have been won by a 1-0 scoreline, suggesting that the Hammers are going to have to keep a clean sheet if they want to collect three points, as their scoring record on their travels is not high.

The visitors will be hoping for a repeat of the last encounter against Reading in February, when West Ham secured a 1-0 win in the FA Cup thanks to Dagny Brynjarsdottir's strike in extra-time.

Team News

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Chambers was not best pleased with her side after their performance against Chelsea, so Reading are likely to make changes to that starting lineup, with Justine Vanhaevermaet expected to return in midfield.

Deanne Rose and Natasha Dowie could also come back into the lineup, in a front three including Amalie Eikeland also, with the trio contributing 12 goals in the WSL this season, more than half of Reading's total.

After operating in a back five against Chelsea, the Royals are expected to play in a 4-3-3 formation this weekend, with Lily Woodham, Gemma Evans, Deanna Cooper and Faye Bryson making up the back four.

West Ham, meanwhile, will continue to use their back three including Hawa Cissoko, Gilly Flaherty and Grace Fisk, with Kate Longhurst and Lisa Evans providing the team with width from their wing-back roles.

Tameka Yallop and Adriana Leon will continue to lead the line for the Hammers in a strike pairing, while Lucy Parker will start in the middle with Brynjarsdottir and Yui Hasegawa.

Reading Women possible starting lineup:

Moloney; Woodham, Cooper, Evans, Bryson; Troelsgaard, Peplow, Vanhaevermaet; Eikeland, Rose, Dowie

West Ham United Women possible starting lineup:

Arnold; Fisk, Flaherty, Cissoko; Longhurst, Hasegawa, Brynjarsdottir, Parker, Evans; Leon, Yallop

We say: Reading Women 1-1 West Ham United Women

These two teams have been evenly matched throughout the campaign, hence why they are sitting on the same number of points after 19 games of the season, meaning that there is a strong possibility this encounter will end as a draw.

Both Reading and West Ham need to bounce back from defeats, so they may not be too overly expansive defensively, but they will cause problems for each other and should both get on the scoresheet.